Sudden Change
by Kira Kei Jinx
Summary: Riley and implied Huey. oneshot If you don't like, don't read. Before story to Dignity for Sale. When Riley realizes he has feelings for Huey. It's more of a fluffy, simple story.


I don't own the Boondocks.

This is technically what happened before Dignity for Sale, so I hope you don't expect anything sexual to happen. It is a request story for World Salad aka the Gilded One. Happy Birthday sweetie. I hope you enjoy this.

If you don't know who Caesar is, read the comics or don't read my stories 'cause he's gonna be mentioned in every single one.

I'm a white girl, so forgive me if the slang is wrong.

* * *

It was about three a.m. when Riley woke up for the second time that night. He stared up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes, angry that this was bothering him so much. It wasn't so much that he was _scared _as it was that he wasn't used to this. He had always shared a room with his older brother. That sort of gave him a sense of comfort. Knowing that if anything ever went wrong, his older brother would only be a couple of feet away.

Then, suddenly, a couple days ago, Huey had announced that he could no longer bear to sleep in the same room as him and had demanded he move into the spare bedroom. Granddad hadn't liked the idea, since he wanted a room for his cutie pies, but he'd agreed after Huey began to rant and rave as to why he was too old to have his little brother share the same room.

So, Riley had been forced to pack up everything he held dear and move into the spare bedroom. He'd complained, saying Huey should have to move since he had a problem with it. He'd said that Huey was only gonna be there another year until he went off to college. He'd said a lot of things, but they went unheard like usual. Huey was the good brother, so he was the one that got a say in what happened around the house.

The only real problem about having his own room was that he couldn't sleep at night. Ever since he'd been in his room, Riley had found he couldn't sleep for more than a couple hours. He would have nightmares about things he hadn't dreamt about since he was a child or he just wouldn't be able to get to sleep at all. The room was way too quiet. There was no movement on his other side as Huey rolled over in the bed. There were no lamps on until all hours of the night as Huey researched something. Hell, there were no midnight phone calls from Caesar for whatever reason that stupid nigga called and no Huey yelling at him for having the nerve to call so late.

The lack of Huey was driving Riley crazy.

He'd considered this might happen because it'd happened after they stopped sharing the same bed when they were littler. He'd had horrible nightmares and had crawled into bed with his brother, crying that he was scared. Which was why he hadn't wanted to move out of the room in the first place.

"This is some ol' bullshit. . ." Riley muttered, slamming his fists down onto the bed and glaring angrily up at the ceiling. His voice seemed so loud in the empty room and that pissed him off even more. "Dammit. . Why'd he hafta kick me out in the first place?!"

That, he'd never been told. Huey had claimed it was because he was too old or Riley was too loud or that they fought all the time and he couldn't get his school work done. Granddad had accepted that simply because he was fed up of hearing Huey rant and rave. But Riley didn't buy it for a second. Those problems had existed since they were kids and Huey had never complained before.

But whenever he demanded to know why, Huey just repeated himself or told him to go away. Riley had even asked Caesar, but he didn't have any clue. Or, at least, that's what Caesar had told him. Riley wasn't sure if he believed him since it was Caesar and he was Huey's best friend and _always _knew what was going on. But he'd sounded sincere, so he hadn't pressed it.

Riley swore loudly, pushing himself into a sitting position. He couldn't sleep and if he couldn't sleep he'd be damned if he were going to be the only one. He climbed out of the bed and walked over to the bed. After successfully tripping several times over clothes or shoes, he made it into the hall.

He quickly but quietly snuck down the hall to Huey's room. He didn't knock because he knew his older brother would be asleep. And besides, he didn't want to run the risk of it waking up Granddad. So he just snuck in and slowly shut the door.

Sure enough, Huey was sound asleep, curled up in his blankets with an angry look on his face. Light from the window just barely shined in and onto his face. Riley stood still, watching him without making a sound. Something about the way the light was hitting his face made Riley a little uncomfortable. But he just brushed it off and carefully walked over.

As gently as he could, Riley shook Huey by the shoulder. His brother let out a low whine as though he didn't want to be disturbed and moved away. Riley narrowed his eyes and shook him again, this time far more roughly. Huey let out a moan, his eyes just ever so slightly opening.

"'Ey, wake up, Huey," Riley whispered rather loudly, shaking his brother some more, despite the fact that he was already awake. Huey let out a sigh, shoving his hand away and pushing himself up onto his elbow.

"What, Riley?" he snapped back, rubbing his eyes and looking up at his little brother with a look that would have scared most people. But it didn't scare Riley.

No, it made him nervous. He wanted to just call it quits and hurry back to his room. He didn't even know why. The whole reason he'd come over here was to bother Huey because it was his fault he couldn't sleep. But seeing Huey angry at him bothered him far more than not being able to sleep possibly ever could.

But why?

Riley didn't know. But he did know that he wasn't going to leave.

"I can't sleep," was his softly spoken answer, him glancing away for just the briefest of seconds. When he looked back, Huey had sat up and was taking deep breaths. His older brother looked over at the clock and let out a heavy, heavy sigh.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Huey sighed out, gesturing up towards the ceiling with his hands the way he usually did when upset with Riley. He raised up his eyebrows, giving Riley a look that said 'well, I'm waiting'. But Riley didn't have an answer, so he simply shrugged and looked away again.

"I dunno. . ."

Something about the anger in Huey's voice had sent a dagger through Riley's heart. He wasn't sure why, but his body told him that he couldn't make Huey mad at him. But he brushed it off, thinking it was because his body desperately wanted sleep.

Riley glanced back at his older brother. Huey was rubbing between his eyes, shaking his head slowly. He was not happy with Riley. Probably because it was three a.m. and he'd just been woken up. But still, he had to admit, the way the light was bouncing off Huey's face made him look incredibly handsome.

Wait. What?

Riley's eyes widened as he stared at his older brother. Nope. It had just been a fluke. His brother didn't look like anything other than a brother. He'd just been tripping for a second. He let out a sigh of relief for his momentary lapse in sanity and it caused Huey to look up.

"What now, Riley?" he asked, his voice bitter and angry like it usually was. The younger of the two stuttered for an answer, then just decided to shake his head and let it go. Huey gave him a dirty, dirty look. "Then can I go back to sleep?"

"Yea'. Aiight. . . Bye. . ." Riley answered, nodding his head several times. Huey shooed him away and away Riley went. He wasn't exactly sure _why _he was leaving since he'd wanted to annoy Huey with stupid questions, but he left.

Once back in his room, Riley fell face down on the bed and pushed his face into the pillow. He let out a little moan. What the hell had that been about? He'd never just given into Huey. He'd never acted so nervous around Huey. And he'd never, never thought Huey looked handsome.

So, why then?

It was probably because he'd been embarrassed about not being able to sleep. He knew Huey'd figure out that it was because they weren't sharing a room anymore. And that thought had just embarrassed him. Which was why he didn't want to stay there and bother him. He just didn't want Huey to turn the tables and start to tease him about not being able to have his own room.

Which explained everything but the thinking he was handsome part. What did that mean? Riley knew he couldn't have feelings for his older brother. There was just no way. And even if it _were _possible, which it wasn't, he doubted it would happen overnight, in a split second like that.

Riley let out a heavy sigh into the pillow and found he couldn't breathe effectively. So he rolled over and stared back up at the ceiling. For several long minutes, he stared up at that stupid ceiling. Then he closed his eyes and desperately tried to fall asleep.

It didn't work.

The only thing that flashed before his eyes was an image of his older brother curled up in his bed with the light of the moon bouncing off him. He had looked so pure, even though he had that permanent glare on his face, while curled up.

"Dammit."

Riley opened his eyes. The ceiling greeted him.

"What da hell is wrong wit me?!" he demanded of the ceiling, glaring viciously at it and slamming fists into the mattress again. The ceiling, obviously, offered no answer.

Riley rolled over and sat up again. He sighed, hanging his head and staring at the floor. There were clothes everywhere. His cell phone, the one he'd begged and begged Granddad to let him have since Huey'd gotten one, was laying on the clothes. Riley cocked his head to one side, wondering if he should call Caesar and ask him what he thought.

Of course, if he did that, he'd have to tell him that he'd thought his older brother looked handsome. And he was pretty sure he couldn't do that. Besides, Caesar wasn't his friend. He was Huey's and therefore, he'd probably turn right around and tell him. And Riley didn't really want his older brother to know.

Then again, Caesar had never proven himself to be untrustworthy. Several times, in fact, he'd tried to talk to him, get to know him, even hang out with him. _He _was the one who pulled back because Caesar was 'Huey's' friend. Caesar had never said he was just 'Huey's' friend. And he was a nice, understanding boy.

Riley shook his head. He wasn't even sure what was going on himself. He wasn't about to bring someone he barely knew into it.

No, he decided he was going to find out for himself first.

On that note, Riley got off his bed and headed back to Huey's room. He was just as quiet as the first time. He didn't knock, and was careful to be extra quiet when he crept into his brother's room. When he turned around, however, he saw his older brother watching him with hawk's eyes, a book in his lap.

"What do you want, Riley?" he hissed out, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring death at him. His voice, the utter harshness of it, made Riley cringe a little bit. He wasn't sure why.

"Um. . .I couldn't sleep. . ." he started, but was interrupted when Huey spat out that he'd already told him that. Riley nodded a few times, looking away from his older brother. He tugged on his undershirt, trying to find the right words.

It struck him that he shouldn't be this nervous. It was just Huey. His older brother. He was always mad at him for something or another. And besides, yesterday or even earlier that day, he hadn't had a problem talking to him.

But, then again, this was the first time Riley'd snuck into his brother's room after they'd gotten separate rooms. Maybe it was the fact that he'd missed his brother so terribly that was making him so nervous. Yeah, that was probably it. He didn't have feelings for him. This was all just new to him.

Unless. . . he did have feelings for him and the separation had just brought them to light.

"Could I sleep wit chu?" Riley asked, motioning over towards the bed. The look he got in return sent a dagger through his entire body. Something was wrong. Why had he even asked that? And why had it hurt so much for Huey to glare at him like that?

Riley hadn't intended to ask. He hadn't even really thought it. It had just gone through his head and right out his mouth. Like his body was controlling him without asking if it were okay first. His body was doing a whole lot of things like that tonight and he didn't like it.

But when the younger was focused enough to look at his brother, he saw that he was fighting with himself. Almost as though he himself wasn't sure what to do or what to say. Riley raised up his eyebrows and watched as his brother had an internal debate about something. It wasn't like it should have been a hard question. No. That was the obvious answer. He had, after all, thrown Riley out of the bedroom. So, then, why should it be such a hard question to answer? He shouldn't have wanted Riley around.

Unless there was something else to it.

Riley considered that maybe Huey was having the same problem he was. That he'd had a momentary lapse in judgement and thought his little brother was cute or something. Then, in order to get rid of those horrible thoughts, he'd thrown Riley out of the room. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak.

But that was ridiculous. It didn't sound like Huey at all. He was far too. . .well. . . Huey for that.

Then Riley figured out what it must be. Huey was debating whether or not to be a good big brother and take care of his little brother when his little brother exclaimed he wanted protection or to send him back to his room like he wanted to. Riley let out a heavy sigh, hanging his head. That sound much more like Huey now that he thought about it.

And that stung at Riley's heart. He felt a pain that he'd never felt before. He wasn't sure if it were disappointment or heartbreak. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know which it was.

"Okay. . . Fine. . ." Huey gritted out through his teeth, nodding his head several times in a very stiff manor. Riley's head shot up, eyes wide. His older brother moved over a couple inches and patted the bed. "But stay on your side."

Happiness swelled up inside the younger boy so much he wanted to shout for joy. But he didn't. He just hurried over, careful not to trip over anything. Very carefully, he climbed into the bed next to his older brother.

Heat instantly rushed to his face. He swallowed a little hard as he moved the covers over his legs. He was pressed up against his older brother. Nervously, he glanced up at his older brother. He wasn't looking at him, he was reading his book again. Most likely because he was so irritated about giving into his little brother like he had. Being so close to him made Riley blush a little more.

Okay. So maybe he did have feelings for his brother.

Riley laid down on the pillows very stiffly. He was seriously considering the fact that he had feelings for Huey. He felt at ease now that he was in the same bed as him, laying less that an inch away from him. He was nervous, but calm. That had to mean something. Right?

But Huey was his brother. That was wrong in so many ways for so many reasons. They were the exact opposite. They hated each other. In fact, earlier that day Riley was sure he hated him. What had changed? Was it really just a matter of realizing that Huey was so good looking because of the way he slept? How could it happen so fast? Was that what a crush was like? Riley wouldn't know, since he'd never had one before.

Maybe he was just delusional from the lack of sleep lately. Maybe that was it. Perhaps in the morning, Riley would wake up feeling disgusted about being curled up with his older brother.

Huey flicked off his lamp, snapping his book shut. He moved and laid down next to Riley. He rolled over, turning his back to his little brother. But Riley found he didn't much care. Not as long as he could snuggle up against him.

Wait. What?

Great. Now he _knew _he had feelings for his brother.

Riley let out a small sigh, moving closer. He pushed his cheek against Huey's back and snuggled close against him. He felt his brother's body tense up until he assumed that it was just because Riley was asleep. Then he relaxed a little bit.

Riley smiled a quite happy smile.

Who cared if it was wrong that he had feelings for Huey? He liked the way this felt.

* * *

"You what?"

Riley nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking away for a couple seconds. He looked back, trying to gather up his 'thug' look. But it was no use. He saw those wide, wide eyes and that stunned face. Riley narrowed his eyes, but he felt the heat rising to his cheeks.

"I. . .think I. . .like Huey. . ." he muttered, giving what he hoped was a sincere look. The last thing he needed was for this to be shrugged off as just a joke.

Because after spending the night snuggled against his brother and waking up still feeling the same way, Riley had turned to the _only _person he thought could help him figure it all out.

And that was none other than Huey's best friend, Michael Caesar.

He had left the house as soon as he was sure Granddad was in the shower. He hadn't wanted to get stuck with chores or something. Then Riley had hurried to Caesar's house and begged him to hear him out. After swearing the Brooklyn boy to secrecy, he'd confessed that he thought he had feelings for his brother in hopes he would have some advice.

"You think you like Huey? Your older brother Huey?" Caesar repeated, twirling one finger in the air as though he were desperately trying to figure this all out. Riley nodded a couple times.

Caesar gave him a look. He sighed and shook his head. Riley raised up his eyebrows, wondering if that were a good sign or a bad one. He prayed it was a good one. Caesar ran a hand through his dreads, casting a slightly stressed look Riley's way.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Riley repeated, this time being the one that sounded confused as all hell. He narrowed his eyes at the older boy. But Caesar just held up his hands and shook his head.

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry. Just gimme a week to figure it all out," he replied, nodding his head a few good times, dreads bouncing a little.

Riley had absolutely no idea what Caesar meant by that, but he assumed it had something to do with fixing him up with either Huey or someone else to convince him he didn't like Huey. Riley wasn't sure which he'd prefer or even if he trusted Caesar.

"You mean, like, talkin' ta Huey? He don't like me. . ." Riley replied, once again before he could even really think about what he planned on saying. Caesar smiled that happy-go-lucky smile.

"Oh. . .I wouldn't be so sure 'bout that," he sang out, giving Riley a thumbs up. Then he turned away, looking over at his calendar. The younger boy glanced over as well, but didn't see anything of interest. He glanced over at Caesar.

"You fer real?"

"Yup. Jus' look for signs, my man. Huey has a crush on someone. Might be you. Jus' gimme a little bit of time to figure it all out. I'll call you," he answered, looking over and giving Riley a reassuring smile. Then he motioned for him to leave the room.

Riley gave him a confused look, but left the room anyways. He figured that Caesar must have something planned like he usually did when it came to weird things like this. He just hoped and prayed that it'd be to his benefit.

Until then, Riley decided he would just look for signs that Huey liked him back. That and do everything in his power to get back to sleeping in the same bed with him like he had the night before.

* * *

The End. Sorry if it wasn't what you expected. But that's how I'd planned for it to happen. . . .If you were looking for something sexy or hare core, sorry. But I hope you enjoyed it, World Salad. Because that's what happened.

And sorry if you think Riley getting a crush on Huey so fast was weird. When I get crushes, they happen just like that. One second I'm friends with someone who I've been friends with for months and the next, I think they're way cute and I can't stop thinking about them. . . .


End file.
